Volume II Issue III

The Tech Times

Volumell Issue lll

March 25, 2015

In Loving Memory of Jeremy Huber

Remembering Jeremy Huber: 1996-2015

By Marissa Brown, Editor

On February 4, 2015, family, and friends all gathered at West Career and Technical Academy to honor Jeremy Huber, former class of 2014 Senior Class President.

Jeremy passed away on January 26, 2015 in his college dorm room. Jeremy was a freshman who was preparing for his first season of lacrosse at John Hopkins University.

Jeremy was named Mr. Wrangler, was a member of Student Council, was Salutatorian for his class, and was a four time all state lacrosse defenseman. Jeremy will forever be remembered for his kind heart, endless positivity, and radiating joy.

For his memorial over 200 members of the community gathered to remember and celebrate Jeremy’s life. Many friends and family spoke about the good times and lasting memories they’ve had with Huber. He was laid to rest on February 7, 2015

The Tech Times Staff offers their deepest condolences to Jeremy’s parents, younger brother, relatives, lacrosse teammates, friends, and fellow classmates.

Photo Credit: WCTA Broadcast

Tark the Shark

By Jason Pajimula, Reporter

As a nationally known icon, and a local legend goes, his legacy will always live on. Jerry Tarkanian was the former UNLV basketball coach in the 1990’s, having over 700 wins for his games, and bringing his team to the final four in the NCAA Division 1 Basketball Tournament.

Although Tarkanian was known for his revolutionary basketball tactics, he was also known for his towel-biting. A statue dedicated to Tarkanian was erected with his trademark towel bite. It was presented to him at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas’ UNLV.

Even though a local icon passes, his legacy will live on forever. Jerry Esther Tarkanian was and always will be in the hearts of many and will never be forgotten. You will be missed, Coach.

Jerry Tarkanian: 1930- 2015 Photo Credit: Robert Hanashiro

Bring on the Assembly

by Gabrielle Brooks, Reporter

The Sadies assembly was pumping with music, bright colors, and infectious enthusiasm. West Tech student council did a great job putting together this Sadies assembly that had many fun activities including life sized hungry hippos to a student shaving a teacher’s facial hair.

Through out the week Mr. Swenson and Mr. Gearin had been raising money by selling raffle tickets. The winner of the raffle was announced at the assembly. These two winners got to go up at the end of the assembly and shave off their teacher’s beards.

West Tech StuCo had definitely brought on the neon with their bright colored posters and t-shirts. The dance team had also brought in a lot of fun and entertainment with their dance to “I Just Want to Celebrate” by Pitbull.

“I really enjoyed the assembly,” said junior Kayleigh Schwartz. “The dance team and student council had put in a lot of effort, and it definitely paid off.”

The principal and teachers had also joined in all the fun when they volunteered to play one of the games. They had to throw a ball into a trash can using a blanket as a sling shot.

“It was so funny watching the principal and teachers getting involved in the activities.” said Patrick Esmurdoc. I think we can all agree that this assembly is one of the best that West Tech had put on.

Photo Credit: West CTA Student Council

License Restrictions Driving Students Crazy

By McCade Crawford, Reporter

As of January 1st of this year the Clark County School District has the authority to revoke a student’s driver’s license for having too many unexcused absences. Student truancy has become an increasingly serious problem over recent years and school and law officials alike felt it was time to introduce some form of consequence for ditching school.

Senate Bill 269 has stated that if a student has 10 or more unexcused absences they can have their driver’s license revoked for 30 days. A second offense results in their license being revoked for 60 days. Though this is the official policy the actual implementation of this law is obviously easier said then done.

After a student has had 10 unexcused absences the student’s school has to make a formal report to the CCSD police concerning the students attendance. After the police analyze said report they can then inform the student and set a court date (which will obviously be set decently far in the future).

After their hearing, the student will have their license taken away assuming they haven’t approved their absences, are under the age of 18 (for students 18 and older are exempt from this law), and have a license at all.

This process is rather intricate and could prove difficult to carry out. Despite this drawback school officials are hopeful that the presence of the law itself will encourage students to attend school more regularly.

In addition to this, students who are pulled over while driving will have their attendance checked. If they have too many unexcused absences they will have their license taken away.

“If you’re not at school you better drive safer” says West Tech teacher Snehal Bhakta. These are especially wise words that truant students should take heed of. The bottom line is: If you’re a student driver, you best not be truant for there are now consequences. Be at school. Keep your license. The solution is simple.

2

News Shave for the Brave

By Jasel Layson, Reporter

St. Baldrick’s Shave for the Brave started off as a challenge between three colleagues that gave them the idea of a lifetime. The challenge? Shaving their heads to raise funds for kids with cancer.

The first event began on March 17, 2000, held in a local pub in Manhattan.

With a goal to shave 17 heads and raise $17,000; the event was a great success, having shaved 19 heads and a total of $104,000 donated for the Child’s Oncology Group.

On March 7, 2015, St. Baldrick’s Shave for the Brave event at McMullan’s Irish Pub here in Las Vegas was a big hit. Many students from West Tech participated in this heartwarming occasion, shaving their heads for the sake of childhood cancer.

With 7 barbers at the ready, they began the day-long event that honors those who lose their hair to chemotherapy. Participants of the event lined up and prepared for the shave. Music blared all throughout the pub, getting everyone, including the shavees, in a pumped-up mood.

“My son has been shaving his head since the sixth grade, and I wanted to join in on it too,” said Ms. Campbell, fifth year St. Baldrick’s Club Advisor, “I’ve been advising this club for five years now, and it’s all for a really great cause!”

The goal to cure childhood cancer still stands, and nothing will deter them from attempting to achieve it. St. Baldrick’s continues to “shave for the brave” all around the world, making those who are diagnosed feel a little more courageous.

Blast to the Past with National History Day

By Sydney Alexi Moral, Social Media Editor

On Saturday, March 14, 2015, students from WCTA competed in the National History Day state competition for a chance to go to Nationals.

National History Day is a research-based project that middle to high school students conduct on historical topics that catch their interest. This project helps students develop skills such as critical thinking, presentation, oral and written communication, and problem-solving.

When asked about how the students of West CTA could benefit participating in National History Day, world history teacher, Jeanine Zelik, said, “National History benefits students by teaching writing, analytical understanding, and reading comprehension skills that will make them a success in life and college, no matter what their career.”

At WCTA, students who are not taking AP social studies classes are required to participate in this project.

“National History Day at WCTA has changed by continuing to have more and more participation and support,” said Zelik. “In addition, the project has been streamlined in which everything can be found in research binders that students complete in the beginning stages of their project.”

Having to choose from five possible categories, students will be tasked to create a project on an event or person in history relating to a theme that changes each year.

This year’s theme was leadership and legacy.

With a variety of projects, WCTA students swept the competition, placing in almost every category.

According to junior, Zach Abbott, “It expanded my knowledge of history and the topic I researched on.”

“NHD allows students the opportunity to take a part of history and prove something about it through evidence,” said Zelik.

Through National History Day, students learn to present, research, and defend topics that interest them. It is an excellent learning opportunity, and teaches many skills that can be used in the future.

PEGDIA: Rise of the German Far-Right

By Griffin Silbey, Reporter Photo Credit: Jasel Layson

Sniffles in the Spring

By: Natalie Johnson, Reporter

Bees will buzz, kids will blow dandelion fuzz, and you’ll be sitting at home with a box of tissues and claritin. Spring, the season of warm weather, the majority of blooming flowers in Las Vegas, and the lovely Spring allergies. Every year, 40 million people in the US are affected by seasonal allergies.

Symptoms of allergies are dark circles underneath your eyes, a stuffy nose, watery eyes, clear, runny nose, sneezing and more. According to James Sublett, MD, FACAAI, a clinical professor and section chief of pediatric allergy at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and managing partner of Family Allergy and Asthma in Louisville, Ky, if your parents have an allergy you have a higher chance to inherit an allergy. Same theory applies to Spring Allergies.

Allergy triggers could be inherited, from mold spores, grass pollen, tree pollen, weed pollen, dust mite allergens, cockroach allergens, pet dander, and roden pollen.

Since trees normally pollinate in the spring, trees cause the majority of the seasons’ allergies. The trees that do that are the worst offenders are Birch, Pine, Cedar, and Cottonwood.

Although, the desert produces the common allergy trees, grasses, and bushes of Juniper, Cypress, Ash Tree, Mulberry, Desert Marigold, Rabbit Bush, Bermuda Grass, and some Ragweed species. Cedar Fever, which includes the symptoms of a low grade fever and typical spring allergies, is one of the most common desert allergies.

To avoid your exposure to allergens, always change your clothes or shower when you enter the house after being outside; stay indoors during breezy or windy days; rinse your sinuses; and make sure your air conditioning/furnace filters are clean and fresh. If you follow all of these tips, you may be reduced to your exposure of spring allergies. Hopefully your allergies will be much reduced this Spring!

Photo Credit: www.sandytoesandpopsicles.com

It started as a facebook group. It is now an organized right wing fringe group.

Its stance: preserve German culture. Its name: PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West).

PEGIDA has gained members, a lot of members. Starting with only 350 members, PEGIDA’s membership has grown to over 18,000 in three months. Only a twelve member group started PEGIDA.

PEGIDA is among the many far-right and neo nazi parties gaining traction through Europe. Greece has the Golden Dawn and Hungary has Jobbik. Although unlike those countries, Germany has strict anti-neo nazi laws. Displaying a swastika is a crime in Germany. PEGIDA has found a way around those laws.

Presenting themselves as “not racist or xenophobic,” PEGIDA does not allow Nazi imagery at any of their rallies. Despite this, neo nazis are visible in the ranks of PEGIDA.

During a recent protest in Britain, numerous PEGIDA supporters proudly waved National Front flags.

PEGIDA is staunchly anti-muslim, their anti-Islamic sentiment is very clear through Facebook posts and quotes from leaders. PEGIDA has hitched themselves onto the tragic attacks in Paris, stating, “The Islamists, against whom PEGIDA has been warning over the last Photo Credit: Reuters 12 weeks, showed in France today that they are not capable of (practicing) democracy but instead see violence and death as the solution.”

Enjoying support from other far right parties, mainly Alternative for Germany (AfD), PEGIDA has grown immensely. PEGIDA’s ranks include skinheads, middle-class Germans, and hooligans. Their main supporters range from conservatives to neo nazis.

While the party has attracted many, it has repulsed many more. Massive counter-protests have been launched by numerous anti-fascist parties in Germany. German churches have also opposed PEGIDA.

Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, has also joined the anti-PEGIDA campaign. Asking Germans to stand against the far right group, she stated PEGIDA is, “full of prejudice, a chilliness, even hatred.”

The Cologne Cathedral in Germany protested PEGIDA in an interesting way.

During a fascist march, they turned their lights off to the PEGIDA supporters.

“We don’t think of it as a protest, but we would like to make the many conservative Christians [who support PEGIDA] think about what they are doing,” Norbert Feldhoff, the dean of the cathedral, said to the BBC.

Despite numerous counter-protests, PEGIDA is still gaining members. They play off of anti-muslim fears to attract many middle-class Germans. Conservative Christians scared of non-christian influence also join.

Recently, PEGIDA has taken a crippling blow with most of its leaders stepping down.

The rise of fascism is very present in Europe. As the European right wing continues to get more extreme, immigrants fear for their lives. In other european countries, immigrants are attacked daily by far right groups. PEGIDA swears it is peaceful, but only time will tell.

Sports 3 Springtime Splash

By Elizabeth Finley, Reporter

Swim season has successfully splashed into Las Vegas. High school swim teams all around the Las Vegas valley are currently hitting the water and competing in swim meets. Many teams in the valley started practice in late February and will be competing until mid April.

Coaches and swimmers were very excited for the first meet of the season, which was a relay meet on March 7th. When asked what she was hopes for her team to accomplish this year Palo Verde varsity swimmer Sammy Dazzio said, “I hope we continue to be a successful team and maybe bond more as a whole team.”

On March 14th Palo Verde Swim and Bishop Gorman High School faced off at Pavilion Pool.

Photo Credit: Elizabeth Finley It was a close meet but PV beat out BG in the end. PVHS varsity swimmer Logan Houck had a stellar performance at the 14th meet. Houck is committed to swim at Harvard University and is ranked 1st in Nevada and 15th in the US for the class of 2015.

The high school swim season is a little over two months long, and many schools will end their season with a banquet and award ceremony. The typical swim team will practice for about three hours after school Monday through Friday.

If you would like to volunteer to time races at a swim meet contact Coach Brent Gonzalez of Palo Verde High School.

By Gabriel Gimiga, Reporter

The Mint 400 is an annual race that happens every year in many deserts across the country. This year, the Mint 400 occured in Las Vegas. Racers from all over the country are sponsored by famous brands like Goodyear, Rockstar, Monster, and the Golden Nugget Hotel.

This first race was created in 1967 by Norm Johnson, an author who decided to make a small town event to bring all the kids together and to get a small activity going.

The Mint 400 is mostly an off-road race that stretches 50 miles. To enter the event, you have to be a sponsored racer and need to have at least 10 years of driving experience and five or more years of racing experience. This year the Mint 400 began by having a parade in downtown Las Vegas on March 11. The parade showed off all the cars featured in the event and what is in the competition.

The race began in full swing. The winner of this years race was Randy Shawn from Wisconsin. He received a sponsorship by Rockstar due to his first place victory and was given a one million dollar five year contract.

Photo Credit: Gabriel Gimiga

Gaming Scholarships

Photo Credit: Forbes

By Stav Levaton, Reporter

Sixty-eight teams, twenty-one days, one champion: these things can only mean one thing March Madness is here.

The fifteenth marked the beginning of this eventful month with “Selection Sunday”. This is the day when all Photo Credit: CASA National the NCAA College basketball teams participating in the tournament are placed and seeded accordingly. After this process is completed, the results are announced to the public.

This year, there were a number of surprises on Selection Sunday including the UCLA Bruins and the Indiana Hoosiers, two teams with rather substandard seasons this year, being included in the tournament.

All these events lead up to the most anticipated game of all, the Championship Game.

According to The Washington Post, there are four teams that are capable of making it to the Championship Game and “winning it all”: Kentucky, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Villanova.

Fans can never be sure, however, who will win the tournament until all the games are over and one team is crowned champion. Make sure to tune in to March

Nascar Weekend

The Mint 400

By Jason Pajimula, Reporter

March Madness

By Jasel Layson, Reporter

The weekend of March 6-8 was an exciting one for NASCAR fans in Las Vegas. Bringing in an estimated $165 million in revenue to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, NASCAR weekend exceeded the fan’s expectations for the race.

As the weekend approached, LVMS made some safety modifications to the barriers at the opening on pit road. NASCAR made this recommendation after racer, Kyle Busch, suffered a crash the month before.

During the pre-show, Rascal Flatts sang the national anthem. Following the anthem, the band instructed the racers to start their engines, and the green flag raised, signalling the competitors to speed off.

The Kobalt 400 is 267 laps around the 1.5 mile LVMS for a total of 400.6 miles. FOX broadcasted the entire competition, giving fans watching from their homes a play-by-play of the race.

Kevin Harvick dominated the speedway, taking the lead for 142 laps. Harvick slowed down in the closing laps after allegedly thinking his tire was deflating but in the pit stop found out it wasn’t.

Harvick prevailed in the end, winning The Kobalt 400 in first place. It was Photo Credit: NASCAR a great win for someone who usually finishes second or better. Hopefully, the No. 4 Chevrolet will succeed in first place again at the Auto Club Speedway on March 29th.

Almost everyone can agree that videogames are not sports, but that cannot be said for some students at Robert Morris University. As many as 35 students can say that they are the first batch with a scholarship to play games, specifically the game League of Legends.

The game, now regarded as an “e-sport,” is played as a team sport, which needs just as much cooperation as any physical sport. It has strategies and plays just like many of the other sports offered at RMU. There are many ways to play including pacing yourself to straight up rushing the opponent, everything still relying on teamwork.

With a lot of today’s generation spending more time on the computer, this newly found way of getting a scholarship could inspire other ways of getting different scholarships as well.

Robert Morris University was the first to introduce this scholarship. Now, a university in Kentucky called University of Pikeville is said to be adopting it as well. This school only allows the students to play League of Legends for them.

As students today get more attached to technology, universities are adapting to the changes. As of right now, the only game that is able to be played for this scholarship is League of Legends. This may evolve into a new way of giving out scholarships, and may as well adapt the way schools work. But let’s not get our hopes up on that.

Feature

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Hacking, The Real Problem By: Andrew Hotchkiss, Reporter

Our world has been expanded immensely over the past twenty years. This has been from the creation of personal computers, and the availability of the internet.

Although this is an amazing experience, and is very helpful for almost anyone, the power of the internet can fall into the wrong hands. This means that all of those who use the internet, can have personal information found and stolen fairly easily.

This is shown on almost a daily basis and includes people hacking on all social networks, gaming websites, etc.

There are many hacker groups around the world that have grouped up together to cause havoc. They do this for many reasons, and to many different people.

One major group is the “Lizard Squad,” who late last year took down both Play Station and X-Box Live. The group is very diverse and is found all around the world. They use social media sites such as Twitter to keep people up to date on what they are fighting for or against. Using hashtags such as the popular #offline signify to them that they have shut down a major target.

Some in the group say that they want kids to play outside more so they shut Photo Credit: Andrew Hotchkiss down the gaming companies. Others fight against ideas they don’t believe in.

Groups have been known to come from sites such as 4chan, and don’t even have a structure, their only rule is to cause problems for those they don’t agree with.

If you are having problems or want to avoid hackers such as these, a good idea would be to avoid using information on websites that aren’t extremely trusted. Even with

iPhone 6 Vs. Samsung s6

Street Racing

Samsung will be releasing their new phone in April, and just like apple has, Samsung has also released two phones of their own, the Samsung s6 and the Samsung s6 edge which come with a stylist. Samsung also introduced their new charger which is a wireless small flat pad that you just rest your phone on top and it would begin charging your phone. The charging is said to be way more effective with the s6, you can get two hours of battery from just a ten minute charge.

The iPhone tried to make charging easier by maxing the charger go into the port any which way, but Samsung really perfected the charging with their pad charger.

The camera between the two are very similar but the Samsung implemented a new software that will auto focus auto enchanted and the flash is automatic as well these features can be turned off. The new Samsung s6 and the Samsung s6 edge has also started using the unlock system that requires your fingerprint to compete with Apple’s Touch ID.

The internal features of the Samsung s6 are much stronger than the iPhone 6 because of the iPhone arrived on the market in September of last year and the Samsung s6 will be available in April of this year. Lastly the new Samsung s6 exterior features are about average compared to the iPhone 6 design in shape and in quality, but the s6 introduced a new type of plastic glass that should prevent shattering.

As movies such as the Fast and Furious franchise promote street racing, the younger generation are copying them. Some are able to come out unscathed after a race, but others are not so lucky. The average yearly death count for drag racers is about 135.

While street racing is illegal, some people still enjoy to partake in it. Others enjoy the look of the cars, as racers modify their vehicles to enhance the performance or the esthetics. “It’s cool, I guess,” Eric Acosta says, “It looks pretty good, and it reminds me of Hot Wheelz. It kind of reminds me of my childhood playing with the toy cars.”

Modifications range from adding a spoiler to keep the car grounded all the way to swapping an engine entirely to make the car faster. All of which take time and money. Of course there are people that do not care for the “sport”.

“Illegal street racing as a whole is bad. It is associated with gangs and gambling,” Jacob Cox says, “It also creates safety hazards for people who are racing, and those who are not racing; they could crash and injure people.”

While the majority public frowns upon the practice of drag racing, many people still support it. There are two opposing sides, with some people feeling indifferent. The indifferent people neither care for racing, and don’t hate it.

Dangerous as it is, people still take the risk. That will not change. However, it will not stop the anti-racers from trying to completely destroy racing to save racers from themselves.

By: Gabriel Gimiga, Reporter

Photo Credit: Digital Trends

Greenhouse

By:Jason Pajimula, Reporter

Photo Credit: Jason Pajimula

By:Haddar Ben-Shimon, Editor-in-Chief

As the years go by, West CTA finds more great things to get students involved in. In the beginning of March, greenhouse management students introduced the school’s first farmer’s market.

“I wanted to promote the idea that our school does interesting and innovative things,” said Reid Marlowe, greenhouse management teacher at West CTA. “I wanted to show that we live up to our mission statement of providing career and technical training to empower people for the 21st century workplace, not just teach math and history.”

The business is very complex, involving accounting, and graphic design for advertisement.

“I think having a farmer’s market at school is a brilliant idea because its a good alternative to the school lunches we have,” said senior Johanna Bocancea. “It gets the students more involved with healthy food by working together to grow the vegetables to sell in the market.”

Having a farmer’s market at West was one of the PBL projects some students, like senior Zachary Ching, had to work on for the Fall PBL of 2014.

“When it comes to growing your own produce, there was a lot of things I never knew. I never knew that each plant has a slightly different variation that could affect whether or not it grows,” said Ching. “I also learned the importance of planning and structure when considering hosting an event such as a farmers market.”

Hopefully soon, produce will be sold to the community on chosen Saturdays in the school parking lot.

Photo Credit: WCTA Greenhouse

Feature Shakin’ Things Up in Las Ve-

5 Dance in the Spotlight

By: Hannah Polyak, Reporter

By: Hannah Polyak, Reporter

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. We can only hope that this is true in light of news that the Shake Shack has come to the Las Vegas Strip.

The New York-New York Hotel has been trying to give Las Vegas natives and tourists alike a little taste of the Big Apple. The sameness between New York and the New York, New York hotel is that the roller coaster at the hotel is mocking the theme park atmosphere of Coney Island. Also, there is the mock Statue of Liberty.

The resemblance doesn’t stop there - now we have another NYC icon that is not only delicious but infamously located only on the East Coast and abroad. Shake Shack has made its way over to the West Coast, and it looks as if it is here to stay.

Shake Shack first opened a cart in 2000 in Madison Square Park. It’s popularity Photo Credit: Hannah Polyak steadily grew, and the cart eventually turned into a stand. In July of 2004, the restaurant opened its first kiosk in the Madison Square Park.

From the beginning, the owners of Shake Shack intended for it to be a single-shop location, but with their growing popularity, the owners realized they had an opportunity for growth.

Since their first kiosk opened, the chain has expanded to 93 stores total, with 30 of those being overseas. December 29, 2014 was a monumental day for the west coast natives, as the first Shake Shack had made its way to the other side.

Kari Johnson, California native, has been to the Shake Shack in New York and the one in Las Vegas. Johnson says “Seriously, this branch was better than the one I had in NY (near Times Square). When I first tried Shake Shack in NY I wasn’t really impressed. I decided to give it another shot and I’m so glad I did. I can’t even put it into words. SO AMAZING.”

Others, like Elena Nells, were not to fond of the beloved restaurant. Nells said “I honestly think Shake Shack is way too hyped. I think its like an overpriced Wendy’s.” While some other customers were wondering why they have a Chicago dog and not a Coney dog.

Whether you think the New York branch is better than the Las Vegas branch is entirely based on personal preference. Now if the New York-New York Hotel really wants to make the NYC experience really authentic, they should bring over a Katz Delicatessen.

Dance 1, Photo Credit: Tyler Tatiano Dance 2, and Dance Company put on a spectacular performance with dances ranging from hip-hop to lyrical. It opened with a dance that was familiar to the students of WCTA, the dance they performed at the Battle of the Sexes assembly.

Most of the dances like Your Song, All of the Stars, and Toxic were choreographed by students apart of the Dance Company. Ms. Rossiter also brought in two guest choreographers, Lauren Fetto and Alain “AK” Kennedy. Among the choreographers was West alumnus Alexis Best who graduated last year.

Dance students showed off their new found skills in songs like Light Em Up, Take Me To Church, Shake It, and Glamorous. The seasoned seniors demonstrated their expertise by choreographing and performing dances including Try which was choreographed by Colby Massanari and Hallie Appleyard and performed by Appleyard as well.

The dances differed in the emotions portrayed. Appleyard gave an emotional performance that touched on the subject of accepting yourself for who you are.

Amber Best, Matthew Gamboa, Jenny Perdue, and Jared Viray, took two different time periods and brought them together with the song Big Spender. The dancers perfectly combined the 50’s with modern day dance.

The dance company “celebrated” their last dance show together, with the seniors at least, with the fun upbeat dance funnily enough named Celebrate.

All in all, the dance classes and the Dance Company put on a spectacular performance. Congratulation to all of the senior for another awesome year.

Editoral Statement

Mission Statement:

The WCTA Newspaper is a student-run newspaper. Students research, collect information, and write the stories that are published. All opinions and views published in the newspaper are based on the writer’s own personal opinions. These opinions are not of the staff, student body, school, or community.

If you have any complaints, please email Haddar Ben-Shimon, Editor-In-Chief, at haddarb564@westcta.ccsd.net or Lindsey Chamberlin, advisor, at lchamberlin@westcta.ccsd.net.

Your input is greatly appreciated and valued.

The purpose of WCTA Newspaper is to keep students, faculty, and staff at WCTA updated on current events that are happening around the school, community, country, and world. The goal is to promote academic and extracurricular activities, student achievements, and the experience of going to WCTA. A key part of the Tech Times news is upholding and exemplifying West CTA’s core values. It is important that the Tech Times sets an example for the entire student body of WCTA and the community of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Entertainment

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Photo Credit: PR Newswire at the Wynn Las Vegas

The ShowStoppers

A Chorus Line feature in Steve Wynn’s ShowStoppers from the iconic show “One” stood out on the Wynn Las Vegas stage.

By Emily Carter, Reporter

“ShowStoppers,” an original handpicked show put together by Steve Wynn himself, for his wife Andrea’s birthday party, is an original completed with all of the most compelling and emotional moments from his favorite performances and shows collection. Steve Wynn’s grand effort in putting together ShowStoppers includes every dancer and performer for the show. The show was created to be grand and the most talked about emotional experience all captured on stage at the Encore Theater.

Only nine minutes long, the show cast with thirty four dancers, singers, and a full orchestra leaves a big impact on its viewers. “I thoroughly enjoyed almost every aspect of this dazzling show. The talented cast had me stunned from start to finish,” said Danielle F. from Las Vegas. “Fabulous singers and dancers and beautiful costumes. The music kept me toe tapping during the entire fast paced program,” said Gerry W., resident of Las Vegas.

Steve Wynn, a ShowStopper himself, included all songs from musicals of the past in an attempt to reverse the typical Las Vegas trend. The objective is to return the original concepts of pure and real entertainment. The old feel of the past has taken a turn on some of the viewers.

“To me the mix was too loud, no effects and very ‘old style’. First time ever I left a show in Vegas. Very overwhelmed and unhappy about the treatment,” said Marian D. from San Diego. The show takes the knowledge of the past musicals and songs for the viewer to most enjoy the show.

“ShowStoppers” continues through the summer of 2015 at the Encore Theater, Las Vegas. So far, the results have been fifty-fifty in an attempt to bring back the past. Will it last? Steve Wynn’s show collection of “ShowStoppers” continues to stay.

Photo Credit: Disney

Be Kind and Have Courage

By: Marissa Brown, Editor and Natalie Johnson, Reporter

Everyone knows the timeless story of Cinderella, but Disney’s new, live action adaptation adds new charm as they tell the story of the girl who went from rags to riches. Disney’s modern take on the classic was enhanced by the musical score, outstanding visual effects, elaborate wardrobe, and the enchanting performance of Cinderella (Lily James) that left everyone with hearts full of kindness and courage.

The story sets out with a golden childhood for Cinderella, filled with her loving parents, a beautiful home, and adventures with animal friends. Her golden childhood turned gray when Cinderella’s mother falls ill and leaves her with the resonant words of, “ Where there is kindness there is goodness, and where is goodness there is magic, Be kind and have courage.”

After the passing of Cinderella’s mother, her father wishes to fill a piece of his missing heart by marrying Lady Tremain (Cate Blanchett) and her daughters, Anastasia and Drizella, (Holliday Grainger and Sophie Mcshera). Cate Blanchett gave a show stopping performance as she delivered her lines with an air of pure wickedness.

After the passing of her father, Lady Tremain leaves no time to put Cinderella to work, cleaning, cooking, and taking care of all of the work in the large house, despite her mistreatment from her evil step-family, she keeps her mother’s echoing words, “Be kind and have courage.”

One day after the pain of her step-family becomes too much to bear, Cinderella races into the forest and runs into, unbenounced to her, the Prince (Game of Thrones’, Richard Madden) while he and his party are hunting. After a brief impactful meeting in the forest, Cinderella cannot stop thinking about the castle’s apprentice and the prince cannot stop thinking about the mysterious maiden and her profound statement of, “Just because it’s what’s done, doesn’t mean its what should be done.”

In a serious act of love, the prince chooses to defy his father and invites all of the commoners to the ball, where he hopes the mysterious maiden will show. On the day of the ball, Cinderella pleads to Lady Tremain to go with them to the ball, but she refuses. Cinderella races outside in tears to find an old woman who happens to be her fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter). Carter adds new life to the character and transforms Cinderella and her animal friends to become fit for royalty, leaving her with the message that she must return before midnight because all will restored.

At the ball, the prince and everyone is in awe of the mysterious girl who will not reveal her name. As midnight strikes, Cinderella races out of the palace, leaving one of her iconic glass slippers on the steps of the palace. Thus starts the adventure of the prince endlessly searching for his one true love, the kind, courageous, mystery girl.

The elaborate costumes, authentic sets, and spot-on acting earned Disney’s Cinderella a five out of five stars! While the film lacked consistency, as it bounced back and forth from being too cartoony, to a modern live action film. The film spans many generations, and encaptures the true essence of the fairy tale Cinderella we all know and love.

Entertainment

7

Music Milestone Minefield

By Brett Bialik, Reporter Musical taste, they say, is like tongues: everybody has one, and nobody wants to see yours. On February 8, 2015, The 57th Grammy’s showed theirs. Every year, the Grammy awards tries to do for the entirety of music that the Emmys and Oscars do for film and TV.

The awards had some expected wins. Sam Smith winning four awards, Best New Artist, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album. The Rap awards were split between two artists: Kendrick Lamar and Eminem.

Not every award went to the expected winner. The Best Metal Performance category, which featured established artists Mastodon, Anthrax, and Motorhead, went to comedy rock group Tenacious D, for a cover. In the Best rock song category, the award went to Paramore for “Ain’t it fun.”

All of this, however, was overtaken by chatter on the Album of the Year award.

The assumed frontrunner was Beyonce, for her self-titled album. It was a major comPhoto Credit: Robin Beck mercial hit, but it did not win. Beck’s Morning Phase, an alternative rock album, won.

This upset was highlighted by award show controversy veteran, rapper Kanye West. When Beck was receiving his award, West got up out of his seat, and made it look like he was going to have a repeat of 2009’s interruption of Taylor Swift.

He did not get up on stage this time, but instead said some things in an interview after the show.

“I don’t know what he said, all I know is if the Grammys want real artists to keep coming back, they need to stop playing with us. We ain’t gonna play with them no more.” said Kanye. “Beck needs to respect artistry and he should have given his award to Beyoncé, and at this point, we tired of it.”

West later clarified that his comments were not an attack on Beck.

“I think it came off the wrong way, and that was a mis-wording on my part because obviously Beck is one of the most respected artists and respects artistry.”

The controversy led to reactions from the rock scene and from those Kanye was defending.

“You disrespect your own remarkable talents and more importantly you disrespect the talent, hard work and tenacity of all artists when you go so rudely and savagely after such an accomplished and humble artist like BECK,” said Shirley Manson, singer of the indie rock band Garbage. “You make yourself look small and petty and spoilt. In attempting to reduce the importance of one great talent over another, you make a mockery of all musicians and music from every genre, including your own. Grow up and stop throwing your toys around.”

The events at this year Grammy’s, made for an interesting spectacle, whether is was enjoying a favorite artist getting their due, or some old fashioned controversy.

Regardless of your reason for enjoying the Grammy’s, most would agree it was quite the event. With any luck, the future Grammy’s will shape up like this one and please their viewers like no other. But for now, we’ll have to be content with the music of this year’s bands.

Total War: Attila Review

By Griffin Silbey, Reporter.

Set against the backdrop of constant war, starvation, and battle, a new Total War game arises with its titular character leading the charge.

Newcomers to the series will be drawn to the genre with Total War: Attila.

The game looks beautiful. Dynamic flames grace the battlefield as barbarians clash head to head. The battles look fantastic.

One big thing Attila does right are battles. Troop morale plays a huge role in battles and fleeing troops can mean the difference between life or death. While they may be confusing at first, battles soon become easier to understand. The game’s battles are soon overshadowed by the need to survive the elements. The game can do a great job in putting the player into the shoes of these historic barbarians. For them, pillaging was a way to survive.

Total War: Attila can throw the player into the mindset of a conqueror. Decisions are everything as a bad one can mean the end to a game.

Surviving nature is a huge part of the game as well. As campaigns progress, situations become less about surviving against other barbarians, but surviving against nature.

One thing that cannot be disputed is the game’s replay value. With dozens of factions, players may find themselves spending hours and hours in the game.

All in all, the game is great. It looks beautiful and has great replay value.

Total War: Attila’s titular character

F.E.A.R.

By Andrew Hotchkiss, Reporter

Rock n’ Roll has changed a lot since the days of The Beatles and Aerosmith, but this band has kept the simple idea of rock in mind this entire time. Papa Roach never really stayed on track with one band “norm.”

Starting with a hard rock, fast tempo, they seemed to be the normal punk rock band, Although no one really knew about the band until their third album of Infest. Their hit song Last Resort off of Infest has been and will probably continue to be the bands standing remembrance, even though they have changed quite a lot since that album in 2000.

Before the newest album, F.E.A.R., the band had two hit albums that went away from the classic punk feel. Getting Away With Murder feels like every rock bands “Dark” album, and The Connection brought a lot more modern rock rhythms and tempo to it.

With the new album F.E.A.R., Papa Roach has kept on the same path as The Connection. The main difference between the two albums are what the songs hold in their lyrics. The Connection with the idea of leading others and getting through things (Leader of the Broken Hearts), to F.E.A.R. being the chance to take on life (Face Everything And Rise), as well as the opportunities and problems that band members had experienced before (Gravity).

The album has not been one that I looked forward to in recent months, but has been the one I fell back on when others failed. F.E.A.R. is a great work by Papa Roach, and I expect more in the future, even with no yet talk about another album.

Credit: Papa Roach Credit: Creative Assembly

Album Cover of the new album.

Opinion

8

Senior Projects: Seeding a New Memory

By Brett Bialik, Reporter

Students from every program are doing the same thing, and not one student is doing the same thing as another; West Tech seniors are creating projects.

By Senior year, you have worked for three years, learning how things work in the field your program prepares you for. By then you should have some knowledge of what you want from that field. Despite all that information, there are still seniors who choose to complain about the transition to a senior project from the learning of the last few years.

It is a big change, this is true, but you are a senior. Change is the word of the year. Surely seniors have some things they have interest in. Create something related to that.

If you are in IT and are into the video gaming industry, then do a project based on the coding languages used in that industry.

You can make a project you enjoy, if you base it around what you enjoy. You can have a project you are good at, if you base it around a skill you are good at. There are great projects going on here at West. For Example, Digital Media students are creating new and fresh digital portfolios and some are designing video games. You can make a subpar project, and yeah, it will get you to graduation. But do you want to be one of the people with nothing to show for four years but a project that exhumes mediocrity?

If you want a project to remember, make one you can be proud of today. Don’t shortchange yourself.Do something cool.

To Drive or Not To Drive

By Marissa Brown, Editor

As of January 1, 2015, a new law went into place stating that a student may not have more than 10 unapproved absences for a non-block school and no more than seven unapproved absences for a block school. If a student meets the limit of unexcused absences, the first offense will merit a 30-day suspension and the second offense a 60-day suspension.“We often tell our students that driving is a privilege.

A new state law that takes effect on January 1 will drive that message home to our high school students,” says Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky.

While it is obvious that there is a clear attendance problem in CCSD, and that is most likely due to the accessibility students have to their cars, it should not be up to the state whether or not students should be able to drive. Rather than taking away students driving rights and striping parents of their parental rights, the state could have come up with an alternate solution as to what to do about the attendance problem.

One solution would be to come up with a more consistent way to notify parents of their child's absence. Schools taking more precautions to prevent students from ditching school, such as having stricter parking policies, or a better way to monitor students leaving the school all could help the attendance problem.

While driving is a privilege, it is a privilege that should Photo Credit: Marissa Brown be given to us by our parents, not the state of Nevada. After all, it is our parents who feed, clothe, and care for us; it is not the state of Nevada. It is our parents who purchase our vehicles, pay for insurance, and pay to have gas put in the car, allowing us to have the privilege to drive. So unless the State of Nevada is going to take on the responsibility and the payments of a student being able to drive, they should not get to decide whether or not it is a student’s privilege to drive.

Cutting the Cord for Cable

By Stav Levaton, Reporter

Nearly seventy years ago, only the wealthiest had access to the newest appliance at the time - the television. Now, this device is found in almost every household across the nation.

However, something is bringing the era of the television to end: the internet. In the past two decades, a variety of different softwares and websites, such as Netflix, Hulu Plus, and FireTV, were created.

These sites allow the public to watch TV shows online, making television obsolete. One benefit of watching TV online is that it eliminates most advertisements.

It is an enhanced experience for viewers to be rid of those irritating commercials.

Also, you can view television anywhere where there is a wireless connection. This is much more convenient than having to Photo Credit: Stav Levaton always be somewhere where a television is available.

“I prefer online because if you’re busy and you only have cable, then you might miss your show; but if you have TV online, then you can watch any show whenever,” said freshman Jasmine Morales. Despite the fact that cable revolutionized the entertainment business, it has recently become outdated. The internet will soon make cable completely irrelevant until TV’s will be a thing of the past.

Bogus Bloggers

By Elizabeth Finley, Reporter

In recent years, YouTube vloggers have become extremely popular and are considered celebrities by many teens.

Some immensely successful vloggers have sold their own makeup lines, clothing ranges, and perfumes. Are the vloggers in the YouTube business for the pure joy and honesty of a video blog or are they in it for the money and fame?

These past two years multiple scandals have surfaced that have exposed the unknown and the unpleasant sides of some of our favorite YouTubers. A major scandel that recently surfaced was the Sam Pepper sexual assault scandal, in which he was

Photo Credit: FunAwesome!.com accused of sexually assaulting and raping multiple women, some of whom were his fans. Pepper was called out as a scumbag by fellow YouTube vloggers and he is currently on hiatus from YouTube.

Popular YouTube beauty vlogger Zoelle released her ghostwritten book Girl Online recently, but many people are upset that she used a ghostwriter and profits millions off of a book she did not write.. In her book acknowledgments Zoella wrote, “I want to thank everyone at Penguin for helping me put together my first novel.” I think this is clear indication that she acknowledged she did not write the book and she knowingly deceived her fans, by omission, when promoting it as her story.

Popular beauty vloggers such as Ingrid Nilsen, Kandee Johnson, and Zoella are often paid to endorse products in bubbly videos aimed towards impressionable 12-16 year old girls. My belief is that many Youtubers have purposely contrived outgoing and cute personalities in order to gain more fame and make higher profits off of product endorsements. In my opinion, whether or not Youtubers have fake personas, they have found a career that offers major success to those who can find an audience.

Staff Members: Haddar Ben-Shimon Marissa Brown Sydney Alexi Moral Brett Bialik Gabrielle Brooks Emily Carter Mc Cade Crawford Elizabeth Finley Gabriel Gimiga Andrew Hotchkiss Natalie Johnson Jasel Layson Stav Levaton Jason Pajimula Hanna Polyak Griffin Silbey Lindsey Chamberlin

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